John WhittakerFrom AIOWikiJump to: navigation, search
John Avery Whittaker
NicknameWhitOccupation{{{occupation}}}
Religious StatusChristianNumber of Episodes514Number of Videos16Type[[:Category:{{{type}}} Characters|{{{type}}}]][[Category:{{{type}}} Characters]]
First EpisodeFP 01: Whit's Visitor (1987)Last Episode698: Never for Nothing (2011)First Video01: The Knight TravellersLast Video17: Race to Freedom[edit] DescriptionJohn Avery Whittaker, known to most of his friends as Whit, is the main fictional character of Adventures in Odyssey and the namesake of Odyssey's most famous attraction, Whit's End. He was originally voiced by Hal Smith; after Smith's death in 1994, Whit left Odyssey to lead an archaeological mission in Israel for the Universal Press Foundation, of which he is the CEO. Whit returned to Odyssey in 1996 and was voiced by Paul Herlinger until 2008. In 2009, Andre Stojka started voicing Whit when Paul Herlinger died.
[edit] HistoryThe character of "Whit" is somewhat of an enigma. His actual age is never mentioned in the audio series, but we can assume he was in his late teens or early twenties when serving in the Pacific in WWII. This would put him to be about 65 at the start of the radio series and about 89 as of 2011 but there is no hard confirmation of that. According to Radio Scripts, Volume 1 and the Original Complete Guide, Whit was born on October 1st in Aberdeen, Scotland, contradicting the The Caves of Qumran which suggests that Whit's birthday is August 14, 1939.
Although born in Scotland, Whit does not have a Scottish accent. Whit's family moved to North Carolina when he was a child, where his father, Harold, taught at Duke University and married his stepmother, Fiona Donneral. During a horseback riding accident his stepmother was struck by a branch and lost her sight as a result. Young Whit saw the accident as his fault, but in the end, her faith and contentment about her situation were the biggest influences on his faith. These events were flash-backed to in #49: “Thank You, God”.
Whit served in the U.S. Navy as a signalman on the USS Irongate during World War II in the Pacific, having been deployed shortly before the Battle of Guadalcanal (as revealed in #93: “Rescue from Manatugo Point” & #94: “Operation Digout”). After the war, Whit attended the University of Southern California (with help, presumably, from the G. I. Bill of Rights and also from the profit of the Spanish coins Whit and Jack found as boys #297: “Blackbeard's Treasure”), where he studied English and met his future wife, Jenny (as revealed in episode #464: “The Triangle, Part 1”).
Following the war, Whit's history is somewhat unclear. At at some point, he founded the "Universal Press Foundation", an encyclopedia publisher, and helped create the Universal Encyclopedia. His time at UPF was also spent working closely with members of the Department of Defense in creation of the powerful computer program, "Applesauce" (#73: “A Bite of Applesauce”). Eventually, he moved, along with his wife Jenny, to Odyssey after founding UPF. There, he taught middle school children. His wife's death inspired him to open Whit's End (Recollections). After Jenny's death, Whit also considered adopting a young girl named Clara, but Jack made a mistake in letting Whit become close to Clara when Jack knew that Clara would be taken home by someone else.
Whit has been known to sky-dive in his spare time.
During Whits absence in the middle East, and the time span between Hal Smith and Paul Herlinger in some episodes they used clips as fill ins for where they needed Whit.
Main article: Whit's Foreign Lines
FamilyMain article: Whittaker family
Whit's wife is Jenny Whittaker. Whit's children are: Jason, Jana, and Jerry, who died in Vietnam. His grandchildren are Monty and Jenny Whittaker-Dowd.His former son-in-law is Phil Dowd. It is interesting to note, that with the exception of Monty and formerly, Phil, all in Whit's family have the initial "J".
John Avery Whittaker
NicknameWhitOccupation{{{occupation}}}
Religious StatusChristianNumber of Episodes514Number of Videos16Type[[:Category:{{{type}}} Characters|{{{type}}}]][[Category:{{{type}}} Characters]]
First EpisodeFP 01: Whit's Visitor (1987)Last Episode698: Never for Nothing (2011)First Video01: The Knight TravellersLast Video17: Race to Freedom[edit] DescriptionJohn Avery Whittaker, known to most of his friends as Whit, is the main fictional character of Adventures in Odyssey and the namesake of Odyssey's most famous attraction, Whit's End. He was originally voiced by Hal Smith; after Smith's death in 1994, Whit left Odyssey to lead an archaeological mission in Israel for the Universal Press Foundation, of which he is the CEO. Whit returned to Odyssey in 1996 and was voiced by Paul Herlinger until 2008. In 2009, Andre Stojka started voicing Whit when Paul Herlinger died.
[edit] HistoryThe character of "Whit" is somewhat of an enigma. His actual age is never mentioned in the audio series, but we can assume he was in his late teens or early twenties when serving in the Pacific in WWII. This would put him to be about 65 at the start of the radio series and about 89 as of 2011 but there is no hard confirmation of that. According to Radio Scripts, Volume 1 and the Original Complete Guide, Whit was born on October 1st in Aberdeen, Scotland, contradicting the The Caves of Qumran which suggests that Whit's birthday is August 14, 1939.
Although born in Scotland, Whit does not have a Scottish accent. Whit's family moved to North Carolina when he was a child, where his father, Harold, taught at Duke University and married his stepmother, Fiona Donneral. During a horseback riding accident his stepmother was struck by a branch and lost her sight as a result. Young Whit saw the accident as his fault, but in the end, her faith and contentment about her situation were the biggest influences on his faith. These events were flash-backed to in #49: “Thank You, God”.
Whit served in the U.S. Navy as a signalman on the USS Irongate during World War II in the Pacific, having been deployed shortly before the Battle of Guadalcanal (as revealed in #93: “Rescue from Manatugo Point” & #94: “Operation Digout”). After the war, Whit attended the University of Southern California (with help, presumably, from the G. I. Bill of Rights and also from the profit of the Spanish coins Whit and Jack found as boys #297: “Blackbeard's Treasure”), where he studied English and met his future wife, Jenny (as revealed in episode #464: “The Triangle, Part 1”).
Following the war, Whit's history is somewhat unclear. At at some point, he founded the "Universal Press Foundation", an encyclopedia publisher, and helped create the Universal Encyclopedia. His time at UPF was also spent working closely with members of the Department of Defense in creation of the powerful computer program, "Applesauce" (#73: “A Bite of Applesauce”). Eventually, he moved, along with his wife Jenny, to Odyssey after founding UPF. There, he taught middle school children. His wife's death inspired him to open Whit's End (Recollections). After Jenny's death, Whit also considered adopting a young girl named Clara, but Jack made a mistake in letting Whit become close to Clara when Jack knew that Clara would be taken home by someone else.
Whit has been known to sky-dive in his spare time.
During Whits absence in the middle East, and the time span between Hal Smith and Paul Herlinger in some episodes they used clips as fill ins for where they needed Whit.
Main article: Whit's Foreign Lines
FamilyMain article: Whittaker family
Whit's wife is Jenny Whittaker. Whit's children are: Jason, Jana, and Jerry, who died in Vietnam. His grandchildren are Monty and Jenny Whittaker-Dowd.His former son-in-law is Phil Dowd. It is interesting to note, that with the exception of Monty and formerly, Phil, all in Whit's family have the initial "J".